I feel like January has been a bit of a struggle for just about everyone I know. It can be hard to find your rhythm again after the holidays and the quiet days around the New Year. On top of that, I find that parenting toddlers during cold winter weather is about 100x harder than warmer months – we have been cooped up, and I’ve just about run out of play-doh. By the time bedtime rolls around I’m ready for a vacation. Tropical getaways aren’t in the cards for me this week, so my solution for resetting is a little bit of hygee and indulgence after she goes to bed. I’ve been curling up with a good book under a warm fluffy blanket and having a little sweet treat to take the edge off a crazy day. My friends at TruMoo just shared their new After Dark line with me and it’s been a perfect fix for my sweet-tooth while I flip through my latest chick-lit novel. I got to try all three flavors of the TruMoo After Dark chocolate milk — which was designed for grown-up palettes — including Vanilla & Chai Spice (made with vanilla, cardamom, cinnamon & ginger flavors) and Mexican Style Chocolate (with cinnamon and nutmeg & a kick of chili pepper flavor – YUM).  The bold flavors come from good ingredients – it’s made with whole milk and real cane sugar and no artificial flavors. My favorite of all of them though was the Dark Chocolate Salted Caramel – creamy dark chocolate milk accented with savory, salted caramel – it is best flavor combination!  My ideal dessert is always one where sweet flavors combine with a touch of saltiness. I loved the TruMoo Dark Chocolate Salted Caramel flavor so much, it inspired me to test a new cookie recipe to pair with it. The only thing better than sweet caramel and chocolate paired with sea salt, is pairing milk with cookies! I’ll be hiding these from prying toddler hands – the TruMoo After Dark chocolate milk and my dark chocolate and salted caramel cookies are both getting tucked away for mom’s private stash (okay I’ll share with my husband too). Get the recipe for the cookies below, and find TruMoo After Dark at Target and other select retailers throughout the country (Visit TruMoo.com to find the product near you).

Dark Chocolate and Salted Caramel Milk and Cookies.
 
Ingredients
  • 2 sticks of butter
  • 2 Tsp. of vanilla extract
  • 1.5 cups brown sugar
  • ½ cup White sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • 2.5 Cups of flour
  • 2.5 Tsp. baking powder
  • ¾ Cup of Dark Chocolate Chips
  • ¼ Cup of Caramel Chips
  • Sea Salt
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees, and line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
  2. In a large mixing bowl, beat together softened butter, vanilla, brown sugar, and white sugar until smooth and fluffy, add in eggs and continue to beat until combined.
  3. Add in sifted flour, baking powder, and sea salt to the wet ingredients, and beat together until combined fully.
  4. Fold in the dark chocolate chips and caramel chips
  5. Scoop out heaping tablespoon sized balls of the dough and roll into balls before dropping on the cookie sheet. Space the dough at least 2” apart on the cookie sheet.
  6. Sprinkle the top of each cookie with sea salt before baking at 350 degrees for 12-14 minutes, checking to see that the edges are firm but the center is still a bit soft.
  7. Remove from oven and let them rest for ten minutes on the baking sheet to firm up before transferring to a wire cooling rack. Continue to bake in batches until all of the dough is used up. Serve warm alongside a cup of TruMoo Dark Chocolate Salted Caramel Milk.

Please note: this post was created in partnership with TruMoo; all opinions, images and content are my own. Thank you for supporting brands that support this site!